


The Mark

by PeculiarGlitteryNargles



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Beauty - Freeform, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Soulmate AU, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-25 14:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12533544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeculiarGlitteryNargles/pseuds/PeculiarGlitteryNargles
Summary: Just after her 15th birthday, Anne Shirley gets her soulmate tattoo.It says Carrots.At the same time, Gilbert comes to Avonlea.





	1. Chapter 1

On this particular morning, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was woken up by something different than the habitual rays of sunshine on her cheeks. She sat up slowly. There was a slight burning sensation on her collarbone, just for a moment and then it disappeared. Anne could already imagine what it was, she had been waiting for this day since she had learned about it.

It was not the idea of romance that excited her, it was the curiosity of what the binding words would be. She hoped for a scrumptious phrase or a meaningful word that she would recognize instantly. She jumped out of bed, to her little vanity mirror. Her red braids were ruffled from sleep but her eyes were wide open in anticipation. She took a deep breath and moved the fabric of her nightgown down, revealing her marked collarbone. _“Carrots”_ Carrots? Why Carrots? The only person she thought of when she aw that word was Gilbert Blythe. He certainly wasn’t her soulmate. He was really smart and he seemed to like Anne for her brains. Although he did’t look bad himse…

“Brain! Stop it!” Anne said out loud to get rid of the warm feeling on her blushed cheeks. Certainly this was a mistake or a misunderstanding. She would be bound to someone else through “Carrots” in the future. But not to Gilbert Blythe. She had been so excited to show the other girls but she knew that the only one she would ever be able to show this to was Diana. Ruby would be heartbroken if she found out that Gil was Anne’s so…

“No!” Anne yelled out loud again. Well even if, every had seen that incident and they would connect the dots in the most logical way.

▪︎

 

A freezing cold breeze hit Anne’s petite body making her shiver. She was waiting for Diana on the path through the woods to go to school. Diana had gotten her binding word five months before Anne, hers was a French phrase on the inside of her upper arm. Anne thought that to be a beautifully romantic thing to bind you to another person, and she had gotten so excited about her own, but now she was just envious.

**Gilbert**

Gilbert Blythe softly touched the ink on his collarbone. _“Carrots”_ It had appeared a while ago and he immediately knew who it referred to, and that’s when he decided to go back to Avonlea, back to school, back to Anne. And now, here he was, in the kitchen of his empty farmhouse, packing his slate and chalk into his bag, as if nothing had changed. But quite a lot had changed in the last two years: Gilbert had grown, not just physically, he understood a lot more about himself, except the thoughts of Anne Shirley popping into his head everyday. He had always thought that she would have forgotten him if he came back, until he got his binding word.


	2. But what if?

Anne had once read, that there would be certain people in one’s life that one would never be able to forget. Back in the orphanage she had no such people, now she did and she intended to hold onto them for as long as humanly possible. To Marilla, Matthew, her dear bosom friend Diana, Ruby Gillis, Jane Andrews in some ways even Jerry. But there was something wrong, when she thought of those people, Gilbert Blythe appeared in her imagination. How did he look? She hadn’t seen him in almost two full years. Was he still the same? Did he remember that Anne asked him to come back someday? Anne had never found herself wishing for him to come back more.

What if he came back? She’d probably try to look at his collarbone, there would probably be nothing there but she was curious as always.

“Anne!” The familiar voice of her best friend interrupted her deep thoughts.

“Hello Diana! I have news.” Diana’s face lit up.

“Did you get it?” She asked. Anne nodded slowly and pushed the collar of her dress down, just enough for the ink to be visible. Diana’s eyes widened and they stood in silence for a second. Then she smiled widely and Anne let go of her dress, blushing.

“Anne, you know what this means right?” Anne didn’t like where this was going.

“It means that Gilbert Blythe is your…..” Diana didn’t get to finish the sentence, Anne’s hand was already covering her mouth. “Diana! No! That is impossible!” Anne exclaimed and let her go.

“But there’s no other explanation! It must be. And I’ve always liked you and him better than you and Ruby. He always stares at you with those sweet eyes.” Diana said, looking at her friend with the widest grin.

Anne ignored the comments ,”You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. If Ruby finds out she gonna be heartbroken. And if Josie finds out, everyone finds out.” She looked at Diana pleadingly.

“Of course. I would never do that.” Diana said and scooted closer to Anne.

**Gilbert**

Gilbert finally saw the school building. It hadn’t changed at all but it felt differently. Like something you were glad to leave and even gladder to return to. It was confusing.

He was a little late to the start of class. As the door closed behind him and the warmth coming from the stove wrapped around him, everyone’s eyes were on him. He saw Moody and Charlie smiling, glad to see their old friend after a long time. Billy, looked down with a frown. The girls all smiled their most wonderful smiles. Ruby blushed and her mouth fell open a little but Gilbert pretended not to see. His eyes were on the beautiful redhead in the second row, who was staring back at him with big, blue eyes.

“Mr. Blythe. My best student. Glad to see you back.” Mr. Phillips smiled and his little mustache moved. He hadn’t changed at all. Gilbert sat down next to Moody, Anne had turned her head to the board tried not to look. Gilbert didn’t even try, his eyes were on Anne the whole time and he wondered how his notes still ended up on his slate.

“Shirley! You have been my best student for the last years. I would appreciate it if you would tutor Mr.Blythe on everything that he missed. Gilbert looked over at Anne, she had gone slightly stiff, but she nodded at the teacher nevertheless. Her head turned slightly and she gave Gilbert the hint of a smile that warmed his heart.


	3. When Soulmates come together

Anne raised her hand to knock Gilbert Blythe’s door. She hesitated but managed three proper knocks.  
Gilbert opened the door. He looked different than in school. His hair was a little messier, as if he hadn’t cared for it after waking up. It looked so soft. He wasn’t wearing a sweater, instead he had on a loose, white blouse which suited him perfectly.  
“Hi.” Anne said, shyly which surprised Anne herself. Why was she so flustered when she felt his eyes on her.  
“Anne! Come in.” Gilbert smiled.  
▪︎  
They were sitting on the dining table, facing each other, just like two years ago when Gilbert first left school. Anne was talking about geometry, looking down at her slate, trying to escape Gilbert’s eyes. He listened patiently, enjoying the fact that he could stare as much as he wanted. He took the time to notice how much she had changed in the last two years. Her 13-year old image had stayed in his mind since then. She had been pretty back then, but now she was…beautiful. Her hair was a darker shade of red, it was longer, still braided. Her face had gotten more edge, her jaw was more enhanced and her cheekbones were higher. Her eyes hadn’t changed much, still big and blue, still full of ideas and emotions.  
Anne had stopped talking and looked up. Gilbert didn’t notice, he just kept watching her.  
“Gilbert?” Anne said.  
“Mhm?” Gilbert asked. She had caught him off guard.  
“The tea.” Anne responded.  
“Right!” Gilbert remembered and jumped from the bench.   
As he leaned over the table to put the tea, his blouse fell a little looser around the chest. Anne noticed something on his collarbone. It was a word, his pairing word. Anne’s eyes widened. “Carrots” It said there. It was identical to hers, the font, the ink, everything.  
She lowered her eyes and uncomfortably touched the collar of her dress, tugging it up to make sure that her own tattoo wasn’t visible.   
▪︎  
“Marilla? Do you have a pairing tattoo?” Anne blurted out. She had just come back from Gil’s and sat on the bench in the kitchen, thinking. Marilla had noticed Anne’s silence since she came back from her tutoring lesson with Gilbert.  
“Yes, I had. You know, when your soulmate dies, you mark disappears. It disappeared two years ago, when John Blythe died. He was my soulmate and we knew it but we missed our chance. Please, never let that happen to you. Tell him as soon as you can.” Marilla stood up and dedicated herself back to the stove.  
Anne just sat there. She had rarely heard such meaningful words out of Marilla’s mouth. Anne knew what she needed to do.


	4. My Carrots

After a ton of pondering and barely getting any sleep at night, Anne finally decided that she would tell Gilbert at their next tutoring lesson, which happened to be that morning, a Sunday, the same time as the day before.  
▪︎  
“Hello Gilbert!” Anne said in a high-pitched voice, smiling and trying to disguise her nervoity.  
“Why so happy?” Gilbert let her in and her face turned serious.  
“I need to talk to you.”Anne said. Gilbert raised his eyebrows.  
“Well…” Anne didn’t want to make it too awkward, she closed her eyes and tugged the collar of her dress down, just below her collarbone.  
Gilbert’s eyes widened slightly. So it was true. He raised his eyes to his soulmate’s face. Her eyes were shut tightly. She looked like she was about to cry.  
“Anne?” Gilbert said and Anne opened her eyes slowly. He smiled at her, showing his dimple off. Anne wanted to run her fingers over it. She blushed as she caught herself thinking about it.  
Gilbert tugged the collar of his blouse down too.  
“I know. I saw it yesterday. I that why you came back? It couldn’t be, could it?” Anne blurted out. Gilbert made a step towards her which made the girl stop. He locked eyes with her and gently grabbed her by the elbows, pulling her nearer to him.  
“It’s okay. I came back because of it. But I would have come back anyways, for you. I came back fro you.” He whispered the last sentence. Anne gulped. They were really close now, and it was getting closer by the second.  
Anne closed her eyes as their lips touched, gently. It was soft and innocent. When Anne pulled back she kept her eyes closed for another moment, before looking back up at the smiling boy.  
“Anne Shirley, you are… scrumptious.” His words touched her deeply. She moved her hands towards his and intertwined their fingers.  
“Can we not tell the other yet? I don’t think they’ll be excited about this. Especially Ruby.” Anne asked. She was concerned about her friend. What if she told her? She didn’t want to imagine.  
“We can keep it to ourselves for as long as you need, Carrots.” Gilbert was still staring at Anne in awe. She looked up and chuckled at the new nickname.  
She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her freckled face in his chest. Gilbert was pleasantly surprised by the move and hugged Anne back. He gently kissed the top of her head, and rested his chin on it.  
Carrots. My Carrots.


End file.
